Writing a Five Paragraph Essay English MLA

Research Your Topic We watched the movie “Jaws” What can you tell me about this movie in general?

General Facts About Our Topic Movie came out in 1975 Based on the novel “Jaws” by Peter Benchley Genre: Horror/thriller Directed by Steven Spielberg Takes place in an island community called Amity Jaws is a great white shark Threatens the safety of the summer tourists in the community Used a mechanical shark to illustrate the attacks The film went over budget and surpassed the original timelines “Jaws” music was minimalistic but is now famous for demonstrating an impending shark attack

Technical Elements in the Film Jaws: --- Look at your notes that you took while we watched the movie!

Creating a Thesis: All essays that involve the development of an argument require a thesis: the point you are arguing. While the topic is your subject, the thesis defines your position on that subject. Your essay will take a position and will provide convincing evidence to support that view.

Thesis Continued: Once you have chosen your topic, you can begin to formulate your thesis by thinking closely about it, doing some exploratory reading, or research. In our case we watched the movie “Jaws” One way to develop a thesis is to ask yourself questions about the topic and to focus on a central issue or problem, which the topic raises. Your answer to this question will be your thesis.

Ask yourself? What makes the movie “Jaws” scary or suspenseful? Remember we want to incorporate our answers from our charts on technical film elements You need to have three reasons why “Jaws” is scary… for each reason you must have a minimum of three examples to prove that it is a contributing factor in creating fear in the audience of this film.

Class Brainstorm:

Building a Strong Thesis: Your thesis should have a strong stand, conclude your thesis with strong statements. For example A vague thesis statement - The movie “Jaws” is scary for many reasons. Strong thesis statement - The movie “Jaws” creates elements of fear and suspense through use of camera angles, music and sounds and the creation of dangerous conflict for the main characters to solve.

Thesis Building Continued: Give your thesis a justification Your thesis should not be a simple sentence, make it in a form that discussion arises from it which is duly justified by proper reasoning. A strong thesis follows only one main idea, ie. “Jaws” is scary because… If you start to contradict yourself it will weaken your argument. Never confuse a reader given him more than one idea, try to focus your thesis statement on one main idea and work on it the whole way. Make your thesis specific Try to make your thesis specific and to the point, don’t let your point stray in the opposite direction this will help in making your essay manageable.

Working towards a Thesis: The movie “Jaws” creates elements of fear and suspense through its use of _________________, _________________________, and ______________________________________.

Ms. Storkey’s Thesis: The movie “Jaws” creates elements of fear and suspense through use of special effects, camera angles, and a variety of music and sounds.

Writing your Introductory Paragraph: A good introduction to an essay grabs the readers attention quickly. Then the writer will introduce general facts about the topic until they narrow into their argument and introduce their thesis (look back at the facts we wrote down together…) Our essay’s will argue “What makes the film “Jaws” scary”

Example of an Intro Paragraph: “Jaws”: Fear Through the Elements of Suspense The movie “Jaws” was a frightening movie created in 1975; directed by Steven Spielberg. It was a remake of the novel “Jaws” by Peter Benchley. The movie “Jaws” focuses on a conflict created by a Great White shark. The shark terrorizes the people of Amity. Amity is a small island that is known for its beaches and tourism in the summer months. This movie is known for its place in the thriller genre and it was designed to create fear in its viewers. “Jaws” has always been known as a scary movie. The movie “Jaws” creates elements of fear and suspense through use of special effects, camera angles, and a variety of music and sounds.

Body Paragraph # 1 Topic Sentence Point One, Example, Analysis Point Two, Example, Analysis Point Three, Example, Analysis Concluding Sentence

BODY PARAGRAPH # 1 In the movie “Jaws” special effects are used to heighten the elements of fear and suspense through the use of artificial limbs, fake blood and the giant mechanical shark. First, the director chose to incorporate a very realistic human limbs. Examples of this are when the girls remains are found washed up on the beach and they show the severed hand. Also, when the man is attacked by the Great White shark in the “pond” and the leg drops to the bottom of the ocean floor. The use of these limbs that appear real in terms of colour, texture and shape helps to increase the audiences fear in the monster when they see the damage it does. Next, they use artificial blood whenever the shark attacks a victim in the water. An example of this is when the little boy gets eaten when he is out on his swim raft. The blood fills the water and makes it look cloudy creating an element of suspense as it makes it difficult to see what the shark is doing and what has happened to the victim. Lastly, special effects were used to create the mechanical shark. The shark itself was made to replicate the size of a Great White shark. In the movie the shark could move its mouth and actually swim around. The use of this mechanical shark in the film adds to the audiences fears because there is a sense of reality in the attacks of the victims they did not use a green screen to make it look like a shark attack they were actually able to have the shark in the water. The movie “Jaws” is a scary movie particularly due to the creativity of the special effects implored.

BODY PARAGRAPH # 2 Topic Sentence Point One, Example, Analysis Point Two, Example, Analysis Point Three, Example, Analysis Concluding Sentence

BODY PARAGRAPH # 3 Topic Sentence Point One, Example, Analysis Point Two, Example, Analysis Point Three, Example, Analysis Concluding Sentence

CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH The function of the essay's Conclusion is to restate the main argument/thesis in a new and exciting way. It reminds the reader of the strengths of the argument: that is, it reiterates the most important evidence supporting the argument. Make sure, however, that your conclusion is not simply a repetitive summary as this reduces the impact of the argument you have developed in your essay.

Remember you must follow MLA: Set up your header with your LAST NAME Pg# Storkey 1 Double space your work 12 pt. font Times New Roman Indent the start of each of your paragraphs SPELL CHECK AND PROOFREAD YOUR WORK!